Bangkok: 48 Hours With Kids

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DAY ONE

8:30 a.m.

The Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok is a great home base for families on holiday. It's a three-minute walk to the Saphan Taksin stop of the Skytrain -- the city's elevated rapid-transit train -- and the hotel's vast Sunday brunch at the Next2 Cafe includes a children's buffet with mini-burgers and hot dogs, plus a performance by Eckie the Clown and an indoor playground.

We plunge into our weekend with a half-day trip to Bangkrachao, a wide swath of greenery that sits in a bend of the Chao Phraya river.

While nature-loving locals like to make the hour-long drive directly to Bangkrachao (also spelled Bang Kachao or Bang Kra Jao), we opt for a shorter route and hire a guide and car to pick us up at the hotel and take us to Klong Toey pier -- a 40-minute drive. (There is no public boat from the hotel to Bangkrachao; it is closer by road to Klong Toey pier than by river.) From there, we get on a water taxi for a five-minute ride down the river, giving my 8-year-old daughter, Nicha, a dramatic study in contrasts on the way: glittering skyscrapers and a hulking row of ships on one side, gap-toothed houses on rickety stilts and fishermen casting their nets into the water on the other.

9:15 a.m.

Disembarking at a pier in front of Wat Bangkowbua, an old temple, we walk for about 10 minutes to where rows of bicycles await, and try several on for size. Mit, our guide, offers a range of orange, kid-size bikes. None have training wheels, but some of the adult-size bicycles come with baby seats in back, which can accommodate kids aged 1 to 5. Armed with bottles of water (bring your own hat, sunscreen and insect repellent), we head out on an easy morning ride that covers 10 kilometers, and Nicha and I hardly noticed.

Routes vary according to your preferences and stamina, but we cycle past a public park known as Suan Klang ("Central Park"), which features a lake teeming with fish. We pick up some fish food for five baht (about 15 U.S. cents) a bag at a stand nearby and watch as the water turns into a mass of mouths and fins as we scatter fish food into the lake. We even spy a giant catfish amid the feeding frenzy.

At a nearby frog farm, where the amphibians are destined for soup pots throughout Bangkok, we discover that 100 tadpoles cost 25 baht (about 70 cents) and it takes four to five months to grow them to maturity. (We opt not to buy them.) We also stop at a small house that makes and sells herbal joss sticks. These hand-rolled sticks -- powdered lemongrass or kaffir lime peel -- perfume the air while repelling insects.

But our favorite stop along the ride is the Bang Nam Pung Nai floating market (open weekends), where anything from pad thai to seafood sukiyaki is cooked on boats and served to hungry patrons seated canal-side. We eat a lunch of pork noodles, tod mun pla or deep-fried fish patties, and liters of sweet iced tea known as cha yen. The bill for three totals 100 baht ($3). We sit along the canal, with small tables set on woven-grass mats, called suea in Thai. As is customary, we take off our shoes before we sit.

12:30 p.m.

We travel back across the river by water taxi and head to our hotel to freshen up before the afternoon's exertions.

2:00 p.m.

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Siam Ocean World

More photos and interactive graphics Our afternoon diversion is the Dusit Zoo. To get there we take the Sukhumvit line of the Skytrain (known to most locals as "the BTS") to Mo Chit (also spelled Mor Chit). We get off at Victory Monument, a 25-minute ride from the Shangri-La, and take a taxi for a short ride (that costs around 60 baht or $1.70) to the zoo.

Established in 1938, the zoo welcomes more than 2.5 million visitors a year and shelters nearly 2,000 animals and 1,000 birds. A trip here is a part of every Bangkok local's school-going years. Besides animals, the zoo has a "Playland" with amusement rides, set in the shadow of Bangkok's elegant, palace-like Government House. Nicha loves the Nocturnal Animals Exhibit, and goes crazy taking pictures at the Children's Zoo, but our favorite feature is the lake, where paddle boats (called "boat bicycles") can be rented for 60 baht ($1.70) and a 40 baht ($1.15) deposit.

4:00 p.m.

There are many ways back to the hotel from the zoo, but the most scenic may be the "water bus" along the Chao Phraya river from nearby Thewet Pier ("Tha Thewet"). It takes longer -- about 45 minutes to the Shangri-La -- but costs just 13 baht (37 cents) to ride to any pier along the route, including Saphan Taksin, which connects to the Skytrain and the Shangri-La.

6:00 p.m.

After a short rest at the hotel, we decide to eat dinner at the Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa, which is a short and free ride from Saphan Taksin Skytrain station on the Marriott's ferry boat.

The hotel's Riverside Terrace restaurant offers alfresco dining riverside, with an international and Thai barbecue buffet, a plus for picky eaters like Nicha. She also enjoys the nightly traditional Thai dancing show, a lovely dose of Thai culture that is just long enough for kids to enjoy.

DAY TWO

10 a.m.

Back to the Skytrain to take the Sukhumvit line to its end, Mo Chit. From Mo Chit, we leave the station via Exit 3 and take a taxi for 10 minutes (67 baht or $2) to the Children's Discovery Museum, hyped as a wildly popular destination for kids of all ages. My arts-crazy daughter loves the Clay Club and Wood Workshop (both are open only on weekends). The Science Gallery is always a draw as well and Nicha can't resist climbing into a giant womb simulating the sounds of the mother's heartbeat before birth. This is an ideal stop for the diapers and juice-box set (1 to 5 years old).

11:30 a.m.

Lunchtime beckons and so does shopping. Walk back to the air-conditioned BTS, and take the Skytrain seven stops to Siam Paragon, one of the city's largest malls, where a plethora of dining -- and shopping -- options awaits.

12:00 p.m.

We get out at Siam station and take the exit that leads us to Siam Paragon. An escalator to the ground floor brings us to a sprawling collection of American fast-food counters, sit-down restaurants, and vendors offering every Thai dish imaginable. The usual suspects are present: Burger King, McDonald's and KFC, but kids usually delight in watching the cooks prepare orders at the Thai food court. After lunch, we wander and shop at the Paragon Department Store.

2:30 p.m.

On the Town with Kids in Asia

Hong Kong Shanghai Tokyo Singapore Taipei Beijing Kuala Lumpur Our shopping urges sated, we make our way to Ocean World in the basement of Siam Paragon. The four-year-old aquarium offers sea explorers several "marine worlds," including a simulated rain forest that you can view from a 10-meter-high platform, and an "open ocean" where manta rays and sharks can be seen through a tunnel. Especially captivating is the "Sanyo 4-D Xventure," a movie theater of sorts where the seats move depending on what's happening on screen. When the camera swerves to avoid a shark or a school of fish, for example, the seat feels like it's swerving, too. Nicha's favorite is the "mermaid show" but our mermaids wear goggles and fins. A dive with the sharks is also on offer; needless to say, we don't take part.

6:00 p.m.

Nicha has to be forcibly removed from the Ocean World premises, but watching fish cavort all afternoon has made me hungry. We walk to the sixth floor of the nearby CentralWorld (a mammoth mall accessible via a "skywalk" from Siam Paragon), where Nicha is swayed by the cheese-a-rama that is the cheese fondue at Fondooz.

7:00 p.m.

We take the Skytrain from Siam station to Phloen Chit, just two stops away, and then jump in a taxi for a quick ride down Wireless Road to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar, where hundreds of booths sell all manner of scarves, jewelry and knickknacks for your home.

In the heart of the night bazaar is the Joe Louis Puppet Theater, the last place in Bangkok to experience Hun Lakhon (sometimes spelled Lakorn) Lek Thai puppetry, an art form created a century ago by Krea Sapatawanich. After World War II, the art was carried on by Sakorn Yangkhiawsod (also known as Joe Louis). He died in 2007 and his children and grandchildren continue his legacy. Nicha loves the "live" show, in which performers bring puppets to life with music to tell a story -- typically a scene from the Hindu epic, the Ramayana.

The performance starts at 8 p.m., but we arrive early to take pictures and witness a woman embroidering what will become the midsection of a new puppet. She tells us it takes eight months to complete one.

Call ahead to reserve tickets. You can pick them up at the ticket counter as early as 6 p.m. and early birds to the night bazaar can have dinner at the "Joe Louis" restaurant just outside the theater.

9:00 p.m.

We emerge, pretty much drained of energy. Although I am tempted to swing by a few of the stalls, I know Nicha is tired, and we head home. Bangkok's vaunted nightlife can wait another day.

[sorensen]

Only a Cyborg in overdrive could have completed all that in 2 days, dragging 2 kids around.

Bangkok is the kind of town where you are able to do only one thing per day.

I would have requested an extra hardship bonus if I should do all that!

[Misplaced]

Love the itinerary. May just use it for my self

[2Na]

Don't miss Siam Ocean world, it's a great place for kids, got air con. and it's right in Siam Paragon, which means you can also get to eat just about anything you want (or your children demand).

The description in your Itinerary is not correct and presents info on the Dusit Zoo.

here is their website:

www.siamoceanworld.co.th